Vent + Leslie - this is indeed a good combination. I have been using that lately (ssh, don't tell the bandmates or audience!). It saves me a channel on the mixer, and makes it a lot easier to get a clean signal when the Leslie is 18" from the high hat.

I'm going to tiptoe back into this because I fear it may turn into another "which is better" thread. My point above was not that only the real thing will do. I often play fakes, and they often work perfectly for the song I'm recording.My point was that sometimes it matters, and a good engineer knows it. A good engineer, like a good studio musician knows the difference immediately, instinctively. So love your clone/vent and enjoy playing it. Most of the time the notes chosen are the most significant factor, not the instrument. But if you plan to record Whiter Shade, Hush, Chest Fever, Green Onions, Love & Happiness, Gimme some Lovin' etc., you'd better crank up some tonewheels (with a T)

_________________________
“What did you use in the studio before ProTools? Answer: We used Pros!”

Whenever I hear old Jimmy Smith recordings, I'm in awe at the sound of the organ. I'm sure the recording environments were never ideal, especially the live recordings, but that sound comes through regardless. I've never heard a clone come close to that recorded sound. I have an NE5 with drawbars, a vent I don't use, etc. There's just something in the way a real Hammond and Leslie sounds, even in a mediocre recording, that can never be duplicated by a clone, even in a high-end studio recording with expert engineers. I always go back to Jimmy Smith. Something about the combination of him and the instrument is not reproducible.

I'm a studio owner and an organ player. I have three real tonewheel hammonds in the studio, along with two leslies. I also have a few clones,and a vent. Usually I don't argue with the clients, if they want to bring their own keys in, fine, it actually makes it easier for me. If they want to use my vintage stuff, they're more than welcome.I've had an equal number go both ways. But maybe 3 years ago now the blues band I play with decided to do a cd. I was engineering it and playing on it at the same time to save us some money, so I used my live setup which is clone/vent. I knew I could go back and rerecord the organ parts no sweat and keep the live energy later. Most of the tracks I did do that. But there were a few where either my solo's, or the band energy was such that I made the difficult decision to go with the energy rather than the sound. To this day everytime I listen to that CD the fake ones stand out to me. I don't regret going the way I did, it would have been impossible to use the real ones and still engineer/see the rest of the band. But there's a world of difference to my ears. SO my conclusions are any time I can use the real things (including real leslie) I do because there is something about it that I have yet to approach with clone/vent. But if I can't, then I do the best with what I have, and chances are very few will notice it when it's all done.

I guess it depends on the situation and context. If the organ is just a background instrument in a rock setting, I'm sure a VST would do just fine if the general sound is captured. But for something more prominent, say, in a jazz organ trio setting, it might be best to have The Real Enchilada mic'ed up.

If someone told me that "the real thing won't bring a "special frequency" to the mix", I'd sit with them and listen to Santana's Evil ways, or Jimmy Mcgriff's All about my girl, and ask them to tell me that a clone and Vent (or even with a Leslie) can get THAT sound.

This is truth.

It totally depends on the context. If you're going after the classic jazz organ sound, you're going to be hard-pressed to get that out of almost any clone. Oh sure, it will sound fine. But it won't have the magic of the real deal. I've done an entire studio album on my Hammond XK3 through a vintage Leslie 122 (organissimo's Groovadelphia) and it sounds fine; it even fooled a couple reviewers. But the real deal in that kind of exposed setting is inimitable.

I've done albums with just about everything, though. VB3 direct to the board. SK1 through a Ventilator. XK3 through a Leslie as mentioned above. XK1c straight into the board. XK3 through a Lounsberry Organ Grinder pedal into a Vent. And even XK1c with the digital Leslie bypassed and a chorus / phaser duo to get that Tony Banks, late-70s vibe. It completely depends on what you're going for.

In regards to digital pianos, I've done pretty much everything there, too. But one thing I lament is that so many modern piano sounds I hear on albums sound the same. Super clean, super in tune, super precise. Sometimes a little funkiness, a little imperfect unison here and there is a good thing. It gives the recording some character. And as a piano tuner, I appreciate studios that have real pianos.

But whatever works. As long as the music is happening, the source is inconsequential. If it sounds good, it is good.

Nobody's fooling anyone with a clone/leslie sim when it comes to Hammond based music and recording. Real deal in studio - every time. But, when it comes to those other gigs the real deal can't go, or experimentation in sound/style, I'm having a blast with my franken-clone.